Seems some diabolical thingy landed on the White House lawn.
Possibly a drone. Or a toy airplane. Or a frisbee. Or a model rocket carrying a frog in a silver suit.
The reaction, naturally, is total panic. Because it could have been a hostile act!
Uh, right.
Yes, there are certain chemicals and pathogens which could be nasty when delivered by itty-bitty toy aircraft. They're not that easy to come by, and effective delivery is another question entirely.
But the allergic reaction to this sort of thing - that is to say, an overreaction, by the immune system, which does far more damage than the outside threat ever could have - points up the ease of using the security state itself as a tool of disruptive terrorism.
I'm reminded of an incident in the Bay Area back in the 1990s, before the emergence of the Homeland Security monstrosity. One of the bridges, if memory serves, was shut down for several hours after someone spotted an unidentified white powder on the bridge. Turned out to be flour, but doctrine dictated a full-on HAZMAT response.
And if some group of uncouth smelly hippies decides to shut down capitalism with a coordinated flurry of "unidentified chemical dispersal" strikes in the world's financial districts? Or "drone attacks" with COTS toy airplanes at high-profile events and sensitive facilities?
Yup. Totally overload the emergency services, and get streets and airports shut down, at very little cost to the attackers.
Only they won't do that, of course. Two reasons. One, the smelly hippies are a lot less smart than they fancy themselves to be. Two, their strings are pulled by the Establishment, to provide a channeled outlet for outrage and to make the Establishment look good by comparison. So they won't do anything effectively disruptive, nor will they show up Homeland Security for a bunch of hysterical clowns.
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